No Other Option
by Destiny JoRayne Adams
Summary: Tag to 1x10.  Mike doesn't want to live a lie any longer, but he finds that he really has no choice.  No slash.


_A/N: Beta'd by Mam711, who did an outstanding job. This is set immediately after _The Shelf Life _(1x10). All the characters belong to their respective owners. I own nothing except Jessnah, who was only mentioned. _

_#19 on my Word Prompt List. Word is "Live."_

-000-

"_If you want this to stop, all you got to do is tap out."_

He couldn't get Harvey's words out of his head. How in the world had things gotten so messed up? A couple of months ago, it hadn't seemed like that big of a deal. Quite the opposite, working at a prestigious law firm in New York City was a far-away dream suddenly sliding into reach. Telling a couple of lies seemed like a small price to pay.

But now, all he did was live a lie, trying to cover his tracks. He knew that it wouldn't last long, so many things had happened in the last couple of days and it was only a matter of time before someone found out.

"Mike, are you okay?" Jenny was looking at him with concern.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." And suddenly, he just had to get out. He had to get away from this insanity; he needed to sort out his thoughts. "Jenny, listen, I've got to go, it has just been a really long, hard day and I'm not in the mood for celebrating."

Jenny suddenly stopped, her arm still wrapped in his propelling him back. "What-"

"You're leaving?" Her demeanor abruptly changed. "So you can go back to the office with _Rachel?" _ She yanked her hand out from his.

And suddenly the night just got a whole lot worse. "Jenny-"

"Louis told me what was going on between you guys. You've been staying awfully late at the office recently, Mike, and now I know why. Well, you can go and have fun with Rachel; just don't expect to come to my place afterward!" With that, she spun around and headed back down the street.

Mike sighed and watched her go, suddenly feeling too tired to even attempt to defend himself. Of course, Louis would jump at the chance to sabotage his relationship with Jenny; he was still mad at him for the stupid security camera that wasn't his fault. He had already changed his computer password, but the damage had already been done.

He started walking down the street, not ready to go home to his empty apartment, but having no destination in mind. He wondered if he should just quit the firm - that way he wouldn't have to worry about Jessica or Louis finding out about his deception. But he had no idea what he would do then; it was too late for him to go to Harvard without somebody figuring out what he had done.

But what about Harvey? He knew that Harvey cared about him and had come to appreciate him not only as an associate but also has a friend, even if he wouldn't admit it. Harvey had also stuck his neck out to help Mike, and he owed him for that at least.

When his phone vibrated in his pocket, he knew it was Harvey. He didn't answer; he wasn't sure what to say to him. 'I'll continue lying to everybody I meet for you' wasn't something he was ready to say yet, but good-byesounded way too final.

Thankfully, tomorrow was Saturday and there was no reason for Mike to go in. Sometimes Harvey had him working on a case during the weekend, but he hadn't said anything today. That's probably because he didn't even know if Mike worked for him anymore.

Mike ignored the thought and kept walking.

-000-

Several hours later he finally let himself into apartment, flipped the light on and closed the door behind him. He grabbed a beer from the fridge as he passed and settled down on the couch and grabbed for the remote sitting on the end table. Instead, his hand connected with a wooden box that was definitely not supposed to be there.

He always found it odd, especially in the speedy techno world they lived in, that all his friends seemed to prefer writing him letters. His grandmother, he understood - grandmothers were supposed to write letters - but everybody else, they had no excuse. He had informed them that he had email, but it hadn't seemed to change anything. He had a couple from Jenny, one from Trevor that he had written when he was under the age of ten, some from his mom and several from Jessnah Crosswell, a friend he had originally met on a trip to Kansas when he was sixteen. He had read all the letters, responded with a phone call, and put the envelopes in a box. He hadn't even looked at the box again until now.

It wasn't like he had anything else to do, after all.

The letters from his grandmother he barely scanned; they were filled with news of family and friends, most of whom he had never met or hadn't talked to in forever. This was all before his grandmother was moved into assisted living and Mike became the sole provider.

All of Jenny's letters were from when Mike had spent a year in South Dakota helping a cousin on his ranch. Back when life had made sense and Trevor was still his best friend and Jenny was still his best friend's girlfriend. And now he was sleeping with his best friend's ex-girlfriend. Man, when had everything gotten so messed up?

_I think that Trevor has almost kicked the drugs. He has been clean for three weeks, Mike. He is looking for a job right now, and he's staying with me until he gets one. I have been talking to him about getting his own place; it should motivate him to keep his job. I am so excited; maybe Trevor will finally make something of his life._

It was one of the letters that Trevor hadn't been privy to. Jenny had always had high hopes for Trevor and she had known that he could achieve something more if he had only tried. Mike had been the one who was more likely to back Trevor up and tell Jenny to lay off a bit because Trevor hadn't had it easy when they were growing up. His dad had abandoned his mom when he was six years old. Then his mother was diagnosed with cancer when Trevor was eighteen and he had to start supporting them when she became unable to work. It was the first time he had delivered drugs for money. He continued to do it for three years along with some odd jobs around the neighborhood before his mom died, despite Trevor's desperate attempts to try to save her. After that, dealing drugs was all he felt like he had left.

Drugs, Mike and Jenny. Now with Trevor in Montana and hopefully not involved in drugs, he had nothing. Mike would call him if he had a phone number to contact him. He knew that Harvey didn't want him to have anything to do with Trevor, but Harvey could live with it. He wasn't going to cut Trevor loose permanently, not after all they had been through. However, Mike recognized that going to Montana was the best thing for Trevor right now; it would give him a fresh start. But he also knew that eventually Trevor would be back, once he got tired of Montana; he would be back in New York, once again calling Mike every time he got in trouble. And Mike would help him, because he always did.

Mike kept absentmindedly sorting through the box, reading a few more letters from Jenny, and a couple from Gram. He skipped the ones from his mother; he wasn't ready to read those yet. Finally he set the box in his closet where he usually kept it. Jenny must have been looking through it and had left on the table. He felt curiously unbothered by the invasion of privacy; she had written most of the letters anyway.

His phone rang again and he grabbed it out of his pocket. _Harvey _shone brightly on the screen. He considered not answering it, but he figured Harvey might show up at his door, and that was the last thing he needed. "Yeah?"

"Are you going to be at work on Monday?" Harvey's tone was short and businesslike.

And this was exactly why Mike didn't want to answer the phone. He didn't have an answer for Harvey. He had no idea what he was going to do. For the last few days, he'd felt like he was suffocating at Pearson Hardman, but he didn't know what other options he had. He had to provide for himself and pay for Gram's medical bills. If he quit at Pearson Hardman, it would either be selling drugs again or cheating at the LSATs, and both options were lousy.

Harvey must have gotten tired of waiting for his answer. "If you're not here by seven on Monday, I'll assume that you have quit." The line disconnected.

_Awesome, _Mike thought sarcastically, _just great. _ He got up and grabbed a beer from the fridge. As he sipped the cool liquid, he flipped through a few days' worth of mail on the table. Most of it was junk, but there was one letter from the facility that his grandmother was at. He opened it with growing dread, knowing that it wasn't anything but bad news.

_Mr. Ross:_

_The fee schedule for residents in our facility has increased by $150 a month. This increase will be reflected in your next bill. If you have any questions, please contact us at (781) 561-6852 during business hours. _

It was then that Mike realized that he'd never really had any choice to begin with. He had to keep his job at Pearson Hardman or else his grandmother would suffer the consequences. And he couldn't let that happen, no matter what.

-000-

"So you're back."

Mike felt like he was back in high school and standing in front of the principal. He fought the urge to lower his eyes and dig his shoe into the carpet. It's not like Harvey had to be so smug about it. "Looks like." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

Harvey eyed him for a couple of moments, and then nodded at a stack of files on the edge of his desk. "These files have to be proofread by this afternoon. Try to have it done on time this time, will you?"

Mike nodded and grabbed the files. He hesitated, but Harvey didn't seem to have any further instructions, so Mike headed for the door.

"Why did you come back?"

Mike turned. "What do you mean?"

"You've always known what you've wanted and then you go for it. You don't want to lie to people any longer," Harvey said. "So what changed your mind?"

Mike wasn't about to explain to Harvey how much trouble both he and his grandmother would be in if he didn't keep this job, so he just shrugged again and threw a grin in Harvey's direction. "Just realized how much I would miss working with you, of course."

"It's your grandmother, isn't it?"

One of these days Harvey was going to stop surprising him. Mike reluctantly nodded. "I'm the only one she has left. I have to be able to provide for her because there is no one else to do it."

Harvey nodded. "Well, I'm sure she appreciates it." That was as close to a compliment as Mike was going to get from him, so he just nodded, as Harvey turned his attention back to the files in front of him.

"I'll get to those files now."

Harvey didn't look up. "I need those files by this afternoon," he repeated.

Mike nodded and flashed another grin before he was out the door. As much as he hated to admit it, it was good to be here. After all, what other option did he have?

_-1,973_


End file.
